Who are the top 10 NZ politicians on Instagram?

As New Zealand approaches the September election, politicians are busy trying to win over voters and social media is arguably more important than ever.

Hayley Holt, the Green candidate for Helensville who's ranked at 17 on the party list, is the most followed New Zealand politician on Instagram.

She is followed by Labour deputy leader Jacinda Ardern who's in second place, and Green candidate Chloe Swarbrick is third. Prime Minister Bill English is sitting in fourth place.

Instagram's head of politics and government John Tass Parker said the social media site has become "an essential tool in the campaign toolkit".

"It offers a new form of civic engagement for an increasingly digital population with both candidates and the Instagram community showing a more personal side of politics, and where young people express themselves during major civic and cultural moments."

The Green Party has the most candidates in the top 10, with a total of four. There's three Labour politicians, two National and one Māori Party co-leader.

Photo credit: Supplied

On Facebook, the Green Party is the most popular party with more than100,000 likes. The National Party is behind them with around 75,000 likes.

Despite this, Prime Minister Bill English is still in the lead in the profile stakes. He has 100,000 followers but New Zealand First leader Winston Peters is closing in on him with more than 80,000 likes.

Over the past 30 days, three posts by MP for Epsom, David Seymour, are in the top five most engaged election- related images on Instagram.

The most engaged image was a birth day cake celebration, while others campaigning on the streets of Epsom.